Skip to content

David Chart

Mifunashirosai

The September 29th issue of Jinja Shinpō had an article on the front page about the next major matsuri in the Shikinen Sengū (式年遷宮) at Isë Jingū (伊勢神宮), the Mifunashirosai (御船代祭). This is another matsuri for which the Tennō (天皇) sets the date, and it was performed on September 17th at the Inner Sanctuary (Naikū, 内宮), and on the 19th at the Outer Sanctuary (Gekū, 外宮). The Mifunashiro is the box that contains the box that contains the object, the goshintai (御神体), housing the kami. I think the Minfunashiro is… Read More »Mifunashirosai

Building Ceremony in Thailand

The 15th September issue of Jinja Shinpō included an article about a ceremony to pray for safety during the construction of a hotel. Such ceremonies are common, but it is less common for there to be an article about them. This ceremony, however, took place in Thailand. This was connected to Sriracha Okuni Jinja, about which I have written before. I said then that I did not think it had a resident priest, and this article confirms this impression, because the matsuri was carried out by priests from Okuni Jinja… Read More »Building Ceremony in Thailand

Long-Distance Relationship

Revd Tagawa’s series of columns about her career as a priest continued in the 15th September issue of Jinja Shinpō. In her previous column, she talked about the success of a crowdfunding campaign, and as a result of that people had started to visit the jinja from outside Saga Prefecture. She had just started to work on expanding the range of omamori and such when the pandemic hit. The precincts were quickly empty again, and Revd Tagawa wondered whether the jinja would go back to the way it was. At… Read More »Long-Distance Relationship

Depopulation Survey

On August 8th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism published a survey on depopulation, and Jinja Shinpō published an article about it in the 1st September issue. (Yes, I have got a bit behind.) While this is not directly about Shinto, it is of great interest to many priests, as this is the most pressing threat to the survival of jinja across Japan. Put briefly, it is very hard for a jinja to survive if no-one lives nearby. The survey was about “shūraku” (集落), which is a term… Read More »Depopulation Survey

Filming at a Jinja

On Monday, I spent most of the day at a jinja that shall remain nameless, assisting at the filming of two videos for Jinja Honchō. During the morning, we were filming for an “image video” aimed at non-Japanese, and in the early afternoon we were filming for this year’s hatsumōdë promotion video (which, of course, is promoting next year’s hatsumōdë). The plan is for both of these to go up on Jinja Honchō’s YouTube channel, and so unless something goes horribly wrong I will write about the content then. I… Read More »Filming at a Jinja

Etiquette Poster

The 29th September issue of Jinja Shinpō carried a second article connected to me, this one about one of the projects I have worked on at Jinja Honchō. This is a poster explaining basic manners for visiting a jinja. With the massive increase in foreign tourists in Japan, this has become a bit of a problem. The events that get a lot of publicity are things like influencers doing chin-ups on torii, but the things that become a real issue are more subtle. I mean, most reasonable people realise that… Read More »Etiquette Poster